San Diego, Calif. (May 17, 2013) – On a brisk May evening, SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks returned to Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif., for a night of practice and qualifying on a redesigned track configuration offering competitors new obstacles with much faster speeds.

After multiple practice sessions, the Stadium SUPER Trucks took to the track for the best of 3-laps qualifying session. Lalo Laguna of Mexicali Baja California, Mexico, was the first driver out of the tunnel laying down a lap of 42.859. The time would not stay at the top for long as Iron River, Mich., native Nick Baumgartner drove a great third lap clocking a 40.829 jumping the No. 12 to the top of the charts.

The next two drivers found trouble during their qualifying laps as Mike Jenkins hit a water barrier and flipped his No. 47 Traxxas truck over onto its side while Arie Luyendyk would break a drive shaft coming to the finish line costing himself a solid lap.

SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Points Leader Rob MacCachren of Las Vegas, Nev., would find trouble on his opening lap getting off course, but would gather himself to make the fastest lap of the night at 39.046. That time did not last long as 15-year old off-road young gun Sheldon Creed took to the track with an ultra-quick 38.450 on Lap-2. Creed would take himself to a higher level besting his own time on Lap-3 with a 38.254. Only Orange, Calif., native Robby Gordon driving the SPEED Energy No. 7 could attempt to knock the kid off the top spot. Putting together three solid laps Gordon would put forth a great effort but end up slower with a time of 38.654.

Creed would go on to capture his first SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks quick time award of the season; he was followed on the charts by second place Robby Gordon and third finishing Rob MacCachren.

SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Round No. 5 at Qualcomm Stadium will begin with the Ultimate OFF-ROAD Expo starting at 12:30PM. Make sure to come out early as popular Southern California punk rock band Warner Drive will take the stage for an all ages concert at 1PM. Fans can get inside the interactive area for $10 or recycle an empty SPEED Energy Drink can for FREE ADMISSION. Pits will be open to all fans inside the Ultimate Off-ROAD Expo at 2PM concluding with a fan track walk featuring an on track driver autograph session.

Racing will begin at 7PM with SST heat races followed by Monster Truck heats. SUPER Trophy Karts, SUPER Buggies, and SUPERMoto will race their Mains prior to the SST Final.

Tickets to SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks at Qualcomm Stadium start at just $25 for adults with kid’s 12 & under FREE with a purchased adult ticket at the stadium box office, through Ticketmaster at ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000.

A special for Armed Forces Day on May 18, military personnel tickets are just $12 by showing their Military ID cards at the stadium box office or other ticket purchasing locations.

Charlotte, N.C. (May 9, 2013) – On Saturday night, May 4, SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks took to the ultra-challenging dirt and asphalt course for the first of two events held at Qualcomm Stadium in the month of May.

NBC Sports will bring all the excitement and action to SST fans this Sunday at 1 pm EST / 10 am PST as Round No. 4 will be aired on the NBC Sports Network all across the United States. Watch an epic battle form between top drivers Robby Gordon, Ricky Johnson and point’s leader Rob MacCachren as they fight for the $40,000 first place prize. Check your local listings for exact times and channels.

The Inaugural season of SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks continues Saturday night, May 18, with the return to Qualcomm Stadium for Round No.5 competition, with a slew of racing divisions plus the newly added SUPERMoto bikes. All taking place on a brand new course set to test the driver’s skill and endurance.

Tickets to SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks at Qualcomm Stadium start at just $25 for adults with kid’s 12 & under are $10 off with a purchased adult ticket at the stadium box office or through Ticketmaster at ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000.

A special for Armed Forces Day on May 18! Military personnel tickets are just $10 by showing their Military ID cards at the stadium box office or other ticket purchasing locations.

Keep up with all the latest news and results on SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks by liking the series on Facebook at http://facebook.com/StadiumSuperTrucks as well as following on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SSuperTrucks. All information including where to purchase your tickets for the 2013 season can be found at http://www.stadiumsupertrucks.com.

ABOUT ROBBY GORDON OFF-ROAD
Robby Gordon OFF-ROAD is a new breed of off-road featuring live motorsports, bringing back what was once the concept of legendary racer Mickey Thompson. Robby Gordon’s new concept of Stadium SUPER Trucks involves high-powered off-road trucks racing side-by-side on challenging dirt tracks consisting of huge jumps, crossovers and tight corners. The Series is comprised of 12 heart-pounding events providing motorsports action in the greatest venues in the world. Professional drivers compete for a huge Championship purse, the biggest in off-road today. Other classes involve BIGFOOT® Monster Trucks, SUPER Trophy Karts, SUPER Buggy, and SUPERMoto racing, all held in stadiums that will keep you on the edge of your seat!

* DISCLAIMER: If you wish to not know what the results are and wait for them to air on TV stay away from Social Media!

GOING TO THE RACE ON MAY 18?

Want to attend the race next weekend at Qualcomm Stadium? Buy tickets to Round 5 San Diego HERE. Also click HERE to find our where you can find other ticket purchasing locations besides the Stadium Box Office and Ticketmaster.

Next Saturday, May 18 at 12:30PM PST the Ultimate OFF-ROAD Expo opens to Fans who have recycled a SPEED Energy Drink can or turned into their SST Event Flyer for FREE Admission. Fans can also purchase a Ultimate OFF-ROAD Expo Pass for $10 which will also allow them access to the pits

Join us for FOOD, BEER, BANDS and BABES! A live band will be performing during the afternoon as well as the Miss SST Judging Contest where you the Fan get a chance to root on your favorite Miss SST contestant!

Wanna meet a driver? The SST Pits will open at 2:00PM PST and you can feel just like a crew member. Get up close and personal with drivers and their teams plus take a closer look at all the vehicles racing including BIGFOOT® Monster Trucks, SUPER Buggys, SUPER Trophy Karts, SUPERMoto Bikes and Stadium SUPER Trucks.

San Diego CA (May 8, 2013) – USA Pro Supermoto is pleased to announce a new partnership between USA Pro SUPERMoto and SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Series (SST) to hold pro SUPERMoto racing events together for the remainder of the 2013 race season. Stadium SUPER Trucks (SST) will begin featuring USA Pro SUPERMoto racing action at select Stadium SUPER Trucks events this summer starting with the SST event at Qualcomm Stadium on May 18th. For this first event, USA Pro SUPERMoto will be holding an exhibition race on the stadium floor of Qualcomm Stadium during the 5th round of the Stadium SUPER Trucks Series on May 18th. This USAPSM event, hosted by Robby Gordon OFF-ROAD, will include a USA Pro SUPERMoto Invitational race featuring some of the top pro supermoto riders in the country. The list of racers in attendance will include; Las Vegas’s Derek Costella, Riverside’s Dustin Hoffman, Denver’s Tim Velasquez, and Newport Beach’s own Brandon Ward. Brandon’s father Jeff Ward, a former AMA SUPERMoto Champion himself, will also be in attendance piloting the No.4 Truck in the SST class.

SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks is modeled after Mickey Thompson’s Off-Road Race Series from the 1990’s, and features stadium racing inside large stadium venues like the L.A. Coliseum, the Metro Dome, Qualcomm Stadium, Georgia Dome and more. SST features modern day race courses constructed of both asphalt road course sections and high flying dirt obstacles. This program is what provided the perfect layout to bring and feature USA Pro SUPERMoto racing. The action-packed event which is anticipating over 20,000 spectators will feature a fan expo during the day, a party in the pits, followed by BIGFOOT® Monster Truck racing, SUPER Trophy Karts, SUPER Buggy, SUPERMoto and the Stadium SUPER Trucks to cap off an exciting evening of high-flying racing action. USA Pro SUPERMoto looks forward to the partnership and will have more info on upcoming USA Pro SUPERMoto/SST combined events in the very near future.

San Diego, Calif. (May 4, 2013) – SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks invaded Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif., for a full night of racing action with four distinct divisions testing their skills on the uniquely prepared high flying dirt and asphalt course. Rob MacCachren, Dan Runte, Apdaly Lopez, and Myles Cheek were able to conquer the multiple challenges of the most difficult course this year to record wins in Round No. 4 of SST competition.

Rob MacCachren, of Las Vegas, Nev., driving the #21 Traxxas was able to make a last lap pass on leader Ricky Johnson en route to capturing his second SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks victory of the season.

The 20-Lap SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks final began from a staggered start and saw first place starter Ricky Johnson from El Cajon, Calif., quickly jump out to the early lead navigating his way through the sand option. Point’s leader, Rob MacCachren decided to try the cross-over option in hopes of gaining the lead. Coming up short the No. 21 would file into the second position.

Bristol, Va., native Justin Matney driving the No. 8 RPM Off-Road truck found trouble early in Lap-2 becoming stuck in the sand pit losing multiple positions and eventually dropping out of competition.

By Lap-6, Johnson and MacCachren drove out to a commanding lead of the other competitors, but disappeared one lap later as the red flag flew for Justin Lofton’s rolled over Solar City truck.

On the restart, Orange, Calif., native Robby Gordon wasted no more time working his way to the front, opting to use the crossover option and taking the lead away from Johnson in the tight hairpin.

In just one lap, Gordon pulled out to a five truck lead ahead of Johnson and MacCachren. The lead did not last for long as the handling on Gordon’s truck began to go away as Johnson closed the margin on Lap-14.

Johnson would find trouble two laps later in the hairpin loosing valuable ground to Gordon and blocking multiple trucks behind him, causing P.J. Jones of Scottsdale, Ariz. to flip over in the chaos.

On the restart, Gordon raced back out to the lead, but found trouble soon after getting stuck in a large rut. Johnson would regain the lead coming to the white flag followed by MacCachren and Gordon.

Coming down the final stretch Johnson tried to fight his way through the dirt with a right rear tire going down as MacCachren passed him for the lead coming to the final corner.
MacCachren raced the No. 21 Traxxas truck to the Round No.4 victory ahead of Johnson and third place finisher Robby Gordon.

“Incredible, 2013 SST Round No. 4 Qualcomm Stadium, Robby Gordon and his top notch staff put their heart and soul into this race series with countless hours of preparation. I could not be happier for Mike Jenkins and everyone at Traxxas. My truck was awesome; we had a 2 point advantage SST Championship Points coming into the event, and with the win we increased our lead to 10.”

“The track was incredible; we were flying to new heights, distances, gap jumps. SST is way more than way Mickey Thompson use to be in the past. Flying 25-30 ft in the air, I ask myself; ‘Are we really doing this,’ these trucks Robby has built are doing a great job handling the challenges we put them through. These fans, who attended the show tonight, need to spread the word to the off-road and motorsports community and get everyone to come out and enjoy the show.”

Apdaly Lopez manged to shake the mechanical woes of the previous two races to take the lead on Lap 7 en route to taking his first SST win in the 12-lap SUPER Buggy final.
Phil Bollman and Cole Belio started the 12-lap SUPER Buggy final and raced around the challenging course. Rick Welch made contact with another driver and became stalled on top of the k-rail entering the sand. Bollman was in control of the fast paced race, until a tangle with Eddie Tafoya and Eric Jacobus in the hairpin caused Bollman to slip back to the sixth position. Lopez managed to steer away from the collision and drive into the lead.

Bollman would find trouble again on final lap flipping over and stalling Tafoya in the sand.

Lopez drove away to capture the win over Eric Jacobus and third place finisher Michael Ward.

The Inaugural season of SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks continues Saturday night, May 18, in San Diego, Calif., at Qualcomm Stadium with a full slate of Stadium SUPER Trucks, Monster Trucks, SUPER Buggy, and SUPER Trophy Kart racing on a redesigned course.

Tickets to SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks at Qualcomm Stadium start at just $25 for adults with kid’s 12 & under are $10 off with a purchased adult ticket at the stadium box office or through Ticketmaster at ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000.
A special for Armed Forces Day on May 18th! Military personnel tickets are just $10 by showing their Military ID cards at the stadium box office or other ticket purchasing locations.

All 11 SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Truck events in 2013 will be televised on weekends and featured on NBC Sports: seven on NBC and five to be televised on the NBC Sports Network. Round No. 4 from Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif., will be shown on Sunday, May 12 at 1 P.M. ET. on NBC Sports Network. Please check your local listings for channel.

San Diego, Calif. (May 5, 2013) – SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks made the two-hour drive down Interstate-5, bringing the 600 hp off-road road show inside Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif. for a night of practice and qualifying.

After a very brief practice, the Stadium SUPER Trucks took to the very unique and challenging course for a best of 3-laps qualifying session. The first group contained the top three in the SST championship point tandings Orange, Calif., native Robby Gordon, Justin Lofton of Brawley Calif., and current point leader Rob MacCachren of Las Vegas, Nev.

Gordon began the session laying down the quickest time of the evening with a 36.828, a time that would end up remaining on top of the leader board the rest of the night. MacCachren would find trouble on lap-2 lightly flipping over in the sand pit. On the restart Lofton found trouble as well spinning out and pulling off the track on the final circuit.

Sheldon Creed, of Alpine, Calif., making his first appearance in a SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Truck would turn everyone’s head laying down a remarkable lap 37.433 good for second place behind leader Gordon.

However, that did not last long as Lalo Laguna of Mexi Cali Baja, Mexico would record a lap time of 37.385 over taking Creed for the second position.

The remaining competitors were unable to match the first lap recorded by Gordon as he went on to win his second straight SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks fast qualifier award and the one point bonus towards the 2013 SST Championship.

SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Round #4 at Qualcomm Stadium will begin with the Ultimate OFF-ROAD Expo starting at 12:30 pm. Fans can get inside the interactive area for $10 or recycle an empty SPEED Energy Drink can for FREE ADMISSION. Pits will be open to all fans inside the Ultimate Off-ROAD Expo at 2 PM concluding with a fan track walk featuring an on track driver autograph session. Racing will begin at 7 PM with Monster Truck heat races followed by SUPER Buggy heats and Stadium SUPER Trucks heats. SUPER Trophy Karts will hit the track before the all the 3 classes Main Events.

Tickets to SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks at Qualcomm Stadium start at just $25 for adults with kid’s 12 & under are $10 off with a purchased adult ticket at the stadium box office or through Ticketmaster at ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000.

Keep up with all the latest news and results on SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Series by liking the series on Facebook at http://facebook.com/StadiumSuperTrucks as well as following on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SSuperTrucks. All information including where to purchase your tickets for the 2013 season can be found at http://www.stadiumsupertrucks.com.

Los Angeles, Calif. (April 28, 2013) –Making its return to the birthplace of stadium off-road racing SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks invaded the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for a full night of racing action with three distinct divisions testing their skills on the uniquely prepared high flying dirt and asphalt course. Robby Gordon, Larry Swim, and Jerry Whelchel were able to conquer the multiple challenges to record wins in Round No. 3 of SST Competition.Robby Gordon, of Orange, Calif., driving the #7 SPEED Energy / MAPEI / Toyo Tires truck held off points leader Rob MacCachren to capture his first win in Stadium SUPER Trucks history.

The 20-Lap SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks final began from a staggered start and saw first place starter Gordon jump out to the early lead. Entering turn 1, third place starter Ricky Johnson of El Cajon, Calif., opted to test the cross-over option for a chance to take the over the lead. Not going as planned Johnson’s evening quickly came to an abrupt end as a flat tire resulted in getting him off course in the middle of the peristyle. Trouble also found Jeff Ward on the opening lap as he became stuck in the sand step-up resulting in losing multiple laps to the leader.

Rob MacCachren wasted no time moving from his fourth starting position, quickly moving into the second spot. Gordon led the pack back to the start-finish line for the opening lap ahead of MacCachren and Brawley, Calif., native Justin Lofton. The following laps saw the lead drivers hold their positions and race incident free for 8-laps.

Caution flew on lap-10 following a re-start where Gordon raced back out to four truck length lead ahead of McCachren and Lofton. Arie Luyendyk Jr. found trouble rounding the last corner of Lap-12 resulting in a roll over on the side of his No. 25 machine bringing out a full course red flag.

On the re-start, Justin Lofton running in third place lost the handle on the Solar City No.6 rounding the peristyle resulting in loosing multiple positions back to fifth place. Phoenix, Ariz., native P.J. Jones, would capitalize on the Lofton’s misfortune moving up into third position.

Trouble found Lofton once again on lap-16 as the hard charging Lofton made contact with Iron River, Mich., driver Nick Baumgartner exiting the chicane causing extensive damage to the front end of his race truck. The damage resulted in the No. 6 to lose the hood and drop out of competition one lap later.

“To win a Stadium truck race at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with the history off-road here is truly something special. I can’t give enough thanks to my partners in believing in me to make my dream a reality.”

Jerry Whelchel, the only competitor to compete in every single Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group event made his return to stadium racing a successful one taking the lead on Lap 3 en route to taking the win in the 10-lap SUPER Buggy final.

Adrian Cenni and Apdaly Lopez started the 12-lap SUPER Buggy final and raced around the challenging course until Lopez stalled on the front stretch of lap-3. Cenni, of New York, NY fell back several positions after making contact with another driver. While trying to make up lost position, Cenni chose the cross-over jump and landed hard breaking the right front suspension.

Cenni would drop out on lap-5 after Rino Navero would jump over the concrete retaining wall brining out the red flag.

Welchel went on to capture the win over Tyler Winburry and third place finisher Phil Bollman.

The Inaugural season of SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks continues Saturday night, May 4, in San Diego, Calif. at Qualcomm Stadium with a full slate of Stadium SUPER Trucks, Monster Trucks, SUPER Buggy, and SUPER Trophy Kart racing.

Tickets to SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks at Qualcomm Stadium start at just $25 for adults with kid’s 12 & under are $10 off with a purchased adult ticket at the stadium box office or through Ticketmaster at ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000.

Mike Jenkins began the qualifying session, running 3 smooth laps. Next was Lalo Laguna as he blistered a quick lap of 42.123 jumping to top of the charts. Laguna remained the quick qualifier throughout much of the event even after successful laps by off-road new comers Arie Luyendyk and Nick Baumgartner. P.J. Jones found trouble on his third qualifying lap turning the American Racing Wheels No. 98 over on its side.

The Solar City No. 6 of Justin Lofton continued his qualifying ways jumping to the top position with a 41.773. Lofton’s, quick time did not last long as Robby Gordon in the SPEED Energy / MAPEI / Toyo Tires truck came out racing its way to the fastest lap time of the day with a 40.620.

“To be fast qualifier at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is pretty cool; we’ve had Lofton as the quick qualifier twice this year. Tonight Lofton came out and qualified third putting the both of us in the same heat race tomorrow night. Heading into Round #3 the race for the SST Championship is very close. Point Leader Rob MacCachren qualified second tonight setting up a great battle for the points lead tomorrow night. There is nothing like being at the coliseum and flying down the peristyles.” Said fast qualifier Gordon.

SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Round #3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will begin with the Ultimate OFF-ROAD Expo starting at 12:30 pm. Fans can get inside the interactive area for $10 or recycle an empty SPEED Energy Drink can for FREE ADMISSION. Pits will be open to all fans inside the Ultimate Off-ROAD Expo at 2 PM concluding with a fan track walk featuring an on track driver autograph session. Racing will begin at 7 PM with Monster Truck heat races followed by SUPER Buggy heats and Stadium SUPER Trucks heats. SUPER Trophy Karts will hit the track before the all the 3 classes Main Events. Be sure to be there to watch history return to the coliseum.

Tickets to SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum start at just $25 for adults and kid’s 12 & under ARE FREE with a purchased adult ticket at the stadium box office or through Ticketmaster at ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000. All college students can buy tickets for $10 through the stadium box office by simply showing their student ID’s.

All 11 SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Truck events in 2013 will be televised on weekends and featured on NBC Sports: seven on NBC and five to be televised on the NBC Sports Network. Round #3 from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, Calif. will be shown the day after the race on Sunday, April 28 at 1 P.M. ET. on NBC Sports Network. Please check your local listings for channel.

Long Beach, Calif. (April 23, 2013) –In a dominating performance, Justin Lofton overcame a practice mishap on Saturday by another driver to be the class of the field on Sunday on the way to winning his first ever SST race in the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Grand Prix of Long Beach.

As near perfect weather conditions blanketed Long Beach, Calif., the highly anticipated Round #2 of SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks took to the temporary constructed asphalt street course of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The starting line-up for the 10-lap SST Final would be determined by a complete invert of qualifying times in practice from Sunday morning. At the conclusion of the 20-minute practice session, Justin Lofton navigated through the 11 turns and over the four jumps of the 1.968 mi course the quickest of the 12 competitors with a blistering lap of 1:47:775. Nearly, two seconds faster than second place, Jeff Ward with a 1:49:615.

As the green flag flew in front of jam packed grandstands, Nick Baumgartner and Greg Adler paced the field with Baumgartner jumping out to an early lead. The trucks of Justin Lofton, Robby Gordon, and Rob MacCachren wasted no time moving to the front passing truck after truck. Trouble found Justin Matney on Lap-2 as he spun backwards going over one of the jumps causing trucks to scramble every which way. Adler took the worst of the damage as he retired from the race on Lap-3 with transmission issues.

A restart on Lap-4 bunched the field back up, but that did not hinder leader Lofton in the Weekend Warriors Productions Yokohama truck as he went right back to work where he left off hitting all his marks on the tricky course to pull away from second place. The action behind Lofton became heated as trucks were beating and banging into each other battling for position.

Justin Lofton would go on to secure his name in the record books as SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks winner of the Grand Prix of Long Beach followed by second place finisher Robby Gordon and points leader Rob MacCachren rounding out the podium.

“I’m super stoked to capture my first Stadium SUPER Trucks win. The outcome from Round #1 at Phoenix was disappointing, but to come out here today and put on such a dominating performance racing through the complete field is simply just awesome.”

“Hats off to my crew and the SST crew for getting the truck back together after being rolled 7 times the day before by a fellow driver. The safety and engineering of these trucks is something truly amazing. Robby did a fantastic job! I appreciate the Grand Prix of Long Beach for giving us the opportunity to race in front of all these fans. I hope we are invited to come back next year.” Stated Lofton.

Tickets to SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum start at just $25 for adults and kid’s 12 & under ARE FREE with a purchased adult ticket at the stadium box office or through Ticketmaster at ticketmaster.com or 800-745-3000. USC Trojans Students can buy tickets for $10 through the stadium box office by simply showing their student ID’s.

All 11 SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Truck events in 2013 will be televised on weekends and featured on NBC Sports: seven on NBC and five to be televised on the NBC Sports Network. Round 3 from the LA Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA will be shown the day after the race on Sunday, April 28 at 1 P.M. ET. on NBC Sports Network. Please check your local listings for channel.

Charlotte, N.C. (April 15, 2013) – Robby Gordon OFF-ROAD officials are honored to announce that the 2013 SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Champion will be the recipient of the Inaugural Mickey Thompson Championship Trophy, named in honor of the late championship racer, innovator, and promoter, Mickey Thompson.

Born December 7, 1928, in San Fernando, Calif., Thompson was an integral player in the West Coast drag-racing scene of the 1950’s. His most notable achievement during this time was the creation of the first slingshot dragster in 1954.

However, it was during Mickey’s time managing the Lion Drag Strip near Long Beach, Calif., he created some of the most innovative improvements in racing safety. The development of the ‘Christmas Tree’ starting lights that are implemented throughout drag racing today, took the human starter out of the equation. During the same period, it was Mickey’s idea to fill barrels with water to help absorb a car’s energy during a crash; the same safety technique is now used in Stadium SUPER Trucks competition years later.

As a championship driver, Thompson set more speed and endurance records than any other driver in automotive history. A 2007 Automobile Quarterly article estimated that Thompson participated in more than 10,000 races, drove more than 1 million race miles, and set nearly 500 speed and endurance records, including 295 records at the famous Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

Though it was his love for off-road racing that led Thompson to found SCORE International in 1973, a sanctioning body to oversee endurance off-road racing throughout North America. Thompson continuously said that the only ones to enjoy this form of magnificent racing were “Nothing but cactus, and jackrabbits.” He wanted to bring the excitement of desert racing to a wider audience.

In 1979, Mickey and wife Trudy formed Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG) an indoor motocross and off-road vehicle racing show and competition. The goal was to take the sport from back-country terrain to stadiums in heavily populated metropolitan areas. Beginning with the first stadium event at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, MTEG was able to bring off-road racing to the masses, giving city fans a taste of the ultra competitive racing throughout the Baja 1000.

As a competitor and innovator, Thompson lived his life in the fast lane and gained thousands of fans and admirers. His memory continues to inspire drivers and promoters around the world today. As it most recently inspired Orange, Calif., native Robby Gordon, in the rebirth of Mickey’s vision bringing back off-road racing to city fans in stadiums around North America. In 2013, those visions became reality as Stadium SUPER Trucks Inaugural event was held on April 6 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Stadium SUPER Trucks Founder and President Robby Gordon stated;

“There was no other name more fitting for the Stadium SUPER Trucks Championship Trophy than to name it in honor of the late Mickey Thompson. What we are doing was Mickey’s vision back in the day of bringing off-road to the masses, people are able enjoy a fun night of racing and entertainment while being in some of the finest facilities throughout North America.”

The winner of the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Championship will hold possession of the Mickey Thompson Championship Trophy for exactly one year. At that point it will be returned to series officials to award to the following years champion.

SPEED Energy SST Championship Point Standings after Round 1:

Updated 4/18/13

After Round 1 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. the 2013 SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks Championship Point Standings have been calculated and to no surprise Rob MacCachren, of Las Vegas, Nev., driving the Traxxas #21 has jumped out to a comfortable early lead over second place Robby Gordon and third place Justin Matney of Bristol, Va.

1. Rob MacCachren 42

2. Robby Gordon 33

3. Justin Matney 29

4. Greg Adler 27

5. PJ Jones 24

6. Justin Lofton 23

7. Arie Luyendyk Jr. 22

T- 8. Nick Baumgartner 19

T- 8. Mike Jenkins 19

T- 8. Jeff Ward 19

11. Lalo Laguna 18

12. Austin Kimbrell 14

The Inaugural season of SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks continues Sunday afternoon, April 21, in Long Beach, Calif. at the historic Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. SST’s will run the same street course as the IndyCar Series, hitting metal ramps and flying 120 feet down the straight away.

Tickets to see the SPEED Energy Stadium SUPER Trucks at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach are available for purchase online at http://www.gplb.com.